RAWALPINDI: Sept 24: Despite bad performance in the Asia Cup , Pakistan is favourite for the World Cup starting in the first week of next month in India,
Pakistan England, Australia, India Sri Lanka Among the favoritees of the World Cup. Pakistani team will start the World Cup as the number one team in the world rankings.
The batsmen in the World Cup squad included Babar Azam (Captain), Imamul Haque, Abdullah Shafiq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad. Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel and among the bowlers are Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Wasim Jr. and Osama among the three reserve players, wicketkeeper Muhammad Haris, Spinner Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Zaman Khan,
Zaka Ashraf, chairman of the management committee, said that Pakistan team has potential and capable of competing at a high level, He said “We have world class batsmen and bowlers and learned from the Asia Cup and it will help us in preparation for the World Cup”.
The national team will leave for the neighboring country this month for the World Cup starting on October 5 in India. The national team will start its campaign on September 29 with a warm-up match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and in 1999 they played the final. Pakistan has also played the semi-finals of this tournament four times in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 2011.
The Pakistani team could not reach the semi-finals in the 2019 World Cup due to low run rate. Before the World Cup matches starting from October 5, the Pakistani team will play two warm-up matches against New Zealand on September 29 and Australia on October 3.
Pakistan’s first match in the World Cup will be against the Netherlands on October 6.
India had gained an advantage over Pakistan and the bowling of vice-captain and spinner Shadab Khan and the spinner who took wickets for Pakistan. Questions were being raised about the lack of batting. Fakhar Zaman’s form started to be talked about when the batting started, but Imam-ul-Haq also did not perform well in the Asia Cup.
Babar Azam said about Naseem Shah. After the defeat against Sri Lanka, it was indicated that his injury is more serious than Harris and he will not be able to play the World Cup. Pakistan has submitted the squad list to the ICC but it has been changed by September 28.